Surrey Record Society has published a book reproducing all references to Surrey and its people printed in the world’s first magazine, The Gentleman’s Magazine, between 1731 and 1754. The transcription and research for the volume was undertaken by a team of volunteers at Surrey History Centre, led by Julian Pooley, an authority on the history … Continued

We are delighted to announce that Naomi Tadmor, who is Honorary Vice President of the Social History Society and served as Chair for multiple years, has published her most recent book, The Settlement of the Poor in England, c.1660-1780: Law, Society, and State Formation (CUP, 2026). In 1662, in the aftermath of the Restoration, parliament … Continued

Revolutionary Connections: Russia and Ireland, 1905-1923 by Anna Lively International news mattered in revolutionary Russia and Ireland. These were highly news-conscious revolutionaries, deeply aware of the power of the media, the potential for attracting international support and how domestic news was being re-told abroad. Revolutionary Connections: Russia and Ireland, 1905-1923, out now open access with … Continued

Paul Jennings, Schools and Schooldays in Nineteenth-Century Harrogate (Palatine Books by Carnegie, 2026) Harrogate over the course of the nineteenth century became an internationally renowned spa. It also attracted a substantial middle-class population of retirees, those living on private incomes and the families of businessmen commuting to the nearby cities of Bradford and Leeds. The … Continued

Pat Thane There is serious gender inequality in contemporary Britain and much protest against it: inequality between female and male pay and employment opportunities; sexual harassment of women and sexual violence; outspoken misogyny promoted by far-right political parties and social media. Women are not the only victims, homophobia is widespread and transgender people of both … Continued

Georgina Brewis and Sam Blaxland The first students enrolled at the new London University arrived at its neoclassical building in October 1828. Officially founded in February 1826, the institution that was in 1836 to be renamed as University College London (UCL) was located on a former rubbish dump just to the south of the so-called … Continued

Sumita Mukherjee’s new book, Imperial Footprints, follows the history of South Asian child migrants to Britain from the 1830s to 1947 (the main era of formal British rule in the Indian subcontinent) and puts forward insights into the shifting and multiple identities of British South Asian children across time. It discusses the impact these children … Continued

Girlhood was an important lifecycle stage in the trajectory of eighteenth-century working women. ‘Working girlhood’ is explicitly used in this book to discuss those girls of the middling and lower orders who worked or prepared for work in adulthood, thus these are not only ‘labouring ‘girls, but those in families in town and country who … Continued

In her new book, Libertine London, Julie Peakman investigates the sex lives of women from 1680 to 1830, the period known as the long eighteenth century. She explores those women who came to be associated with sex outside of marriage and were verbally abused for indulging in sex for love, desire or a living, behaviour … Continued

  A story of British expatriate social mobility and sexuality in the Middle East   Nineteenth century social history is populated by men (mostly) driven by the self-improvement ethos who emerged from humble circumstances to relative wealth and status.  Such historical rags to riches stories attract intrinsic interest.  They make persuasive illustrations for arguments about … Continued